I am here
by TheatricalAnxiety
Summary: Jace has loved Clary for as long as he can remember. There's just one problem - she's his best friend's little sister. When senior year rolls around, many friendships and relationships change. Will Jace finally have the guts to confess his emotions to Clary or will he simply let things go on as they have? *does contain rape - not descriptive*
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all! I know no one likes lengthy author notes but I'm going to do this one because this is my first ever fanfiction. Please enjoy and please review. Comments and criticism accepted - just don't be horribly mean. This is my first story and I know there will be issues, just as there is with anything that anyone tries for the first time. I will update at least once a week. There might be a few times where I will do two in a week if I get extra reviews but I will NEVER withhold a chapter for reviews.**

 **Unfortunately I do not own anything related to the Mortal Instruments - Cassandra Clare has rights to all of that beautifulness - I just get to borrow the characters for fanfiction purposes.**

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 _ **"I got lost in him. And it's exactly the kind of lost that is like being found."**_

 _ **\- Claire LaZebnik**_

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Jace walked into the house just as Clary came down the stairs. Her red hair was bouncing up and down on her shoulders, outlining her porcelain skin perfectly. Jace thought he was probably the only one who noticed though. He had had a crush on Clary for years. He had thought about acting on it once or twice but had always been deterred by the fact that he had been her brothers best friend since the age of seven.

"Hey Red!" He called as she turned the stairs to go toward the lowest level of the house. He hadn't called her by her given name since he was in the seventh grade. She was in sixth.

"Hey Blondie, what's up?"

"Not much just looking for Jonathan. Is he around?"

"He should be back any time. He just dropped Luke and my mom off at the airport with their twenty gazillion bags!" Clary finished with a flip of her hair as she turned to go downstairs.

Their stepfather was an owner of one of the smaller bookstores in town and had been offered a full expense paid trip for seven months to rural areas of Mexico and South America to teach children to read. Clary and Jonathan were staying by themselves for the duration because the Lightwoods lived right across the street.

Just as Jace was about to follow Clary down the stairs, Jonathan walked through the door. Jonathan walked with horrible posture, his white hair flopping over when he looked down to put the keys in the bowl by the door.

"Hey bro what's up?" Jon called without looking up the bowl. He walked toward the kitchen and beckoned to Jace to follow. By the time Jace caught up to his long strides, Jon already had sandwich fix-ins splayed on the counter.

"So this is what it's gonna be like for the next seven months?" Jace chuckled. He walked over and grabbed a few slices of salami before hopping up on the counter to observe Jon's meticulous sandwich making.

"Yup! I'm not going to go crazy or anything but I was thinking of having the gang over after homecoming. Maybe we can throw a big party once, as long as we keep it in the basement and clean up really well. We obviously don't have to worry about them coming home early because they have no way of getting to any big city until at least November."

"Sure dude! Let's do it. Who are you thinking of asking?"

"Eh, probably Aline. She's hot and not relationship material. I'm really just looking for a date for that one night and then I'm good."

"Real mature Jon" Clary stated as she entered the room. Jace choked on the water he had been in the process of swallowing.

"Aw come on Clary. You know I'm not a relationship guy."

"That doesn't mean you can't be nice to girls" Clary chastised as she reached into the fridge to pull out a box of cold pizza. Jace watched her walk around the kitchen, glancing over at Jon every few seconds to make sure he hadn't noticed his best friend checking out his younger sister. Just another reason to add to the list of reasons Jace could never have Clary. Jon knew how much of a player he was and would never approve, no matter how much Jace would try to convince him otherwise.

Once they had all gotten food, they headed upstairs to the TV room to watch a movie, taking their normal positions on the L shaped couch – Jace's back against the corner of the couch, stretching his legs along the smaller end toward the armrest. Jonathan would put his back against the other armrest. When they were younger, Clary would take her place on the floor on a small pile of pillows. As the three had grown older and Jace had become more of a permanent fixture in their house, Clary had taken to leaning on Jace's chest and twining her legs in Jon's. Every time they sat like that, Jace desperately hoped she didn't hear his heartbeat speeding up.

* * *

Back to school, Jace groaned internally. The only thing he was excited about was soccer practice after school.

As he walked into first period, he was quickly reminded that Clary had skipped a year in school. She was now going to be a senior just like Jace and her brother. And she would also have some of the same classes, starting with Jace's first period history class. She sat in the back of the classroom nearest the window. Jace was about to walk to his normal seat on the other side of the classroom when he heard the high pitched squeal of Aline Penhallow and her bitch of a best friend Kaelie. They walked over to Clary and began harassing her immediately.

"Honey, you really should shave your head. If you sat in the front of the class, no one would be able to see around your clown hair" Kaelie taunted.

"Then again, you'd probably have to burn all of your clothes because you wouldn't have your clown hair to match your outfits anymore." Aline added.

Clary had told Jace and Jon that these girls teased her but neither of them had never witnessed it. Jace moved to get up and intervene but Clary caught his eye and gave the slightest shake of her head. Jace knew she wanted to fight her own battles but he couldn't just let them treat her like that.

Jace grabbed his bag from beside the desk and walked over as though he had never been sitting down. He slid into the seat next to Clary, ignoring the two bullies and going on as though he hadn't seen or heard anything they had said.

"Hey Clary! Thanks for saving me a seat." A thrill rushed through Jace's core as he realized he called her Clary, her given name, for the first time in years. Aline and Kaelie glanced at each other and walked to their seats just as the teacher entered the room. As the lecture began, Clary turned to Jace and mouthed a small thank you before focusing on her textbook for the remainder of the period.

* * *

Jace entered the cafeteria with his head held high. There weren't enough sporty guys at Alicante High to have an entire football team so the soccer team ruled the school. He waltzed right past his sister Isabelle, who was also Clary's best friend. Simon, Isabelle's boyfriend, sat to her left and Clary sat across from the two of them. Jace took up his usual seat on the end of the soccer team's lunch table, next to Jon. His seat gave him a perfect view of Clary, laughing at whatever had just been said. He mentally scolded himself for thinking of her like that but found himself unable to look away. He stared at her in awe for so long that she looked up and made eye contact. His heart skipped a beat as she gave him a small smile and turned back to her previous conversation.

* * *

Hurrying into the locker room, Jace realized that he was the last one there. He had been talking to Clary about their biology project they had been assigned. Luckily for him, it was a year long study on a specific biome that would turn into their final, meaning Clary was his partner for the whole year. As he was daydreaming about how they would grow closer throughout the extensive process that the project would require, he heard Jonathan talking to one of the new guys on the team. His name was Sebastian and he was a transfer student from a larger town whose school funding went mainly to their football team. Sebastian transferred so he could play soccer on a team that was actually good.

"Honestly I think it would be so much fun to go to homecoming but I have no idea who to ask. I feel like no one would say yes because no one knows me." Sebastian stated factually, no emotion behind his words.

"Dude, you're on the freaking soccer team. You're basically royalty. You could have any chick in the school!" Jon encouraged.

"The problem is, I don't know who I want because I don't know anyone."

" I have a fantastic idea. My little sister wasn't going to go to homecoming this year because all of her friends have dates but she didn't. Why don't you ask her?"

Jace had to use all of his energy to prevent his jaw from dropping to the floor at Jon's offer. He barely eve knew this kid and he was already setting him up. With his sister no less. Jace angrily slammed his locker and headed toward the door leading to the fields. A few heads turned at his outburst but most figured it was just him getting psyched up. He tied his shoe laces while sitting on the bleachers still seething. How could Jon just go and offer up his Clary to some other dude. Wait, HIS Clary?

 **PLEASE REVIEW**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN – thank you for reviews! I did not expect so many after one chapter! The first few chapters are already written so they will be updated frequently then they will go week by week :) Please continue reviewing with opinions, predictions, comments, and criticism! – they all provide more inspiration for the story!**

 **I do not own the Mortal Instruments**

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 ** _"Beautiful things do not ask for attention." -Unknown_**

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The ball hit the back of the net with such ferocity that it rebounded and smacked Jonathan in the back of the head. Jace couldn't help but snicker. That one was for Clary.

Over the past week, Jace had witnessed countless homecoming proposals, including one from Sebastian to Clary. He was still seething, and wasn't sure that he would be getting rid of that anger any time soon. At least it translated into fantastic playing on the field.

Jace was now attending the homecoming dance with Kaelie because Jon had asked Aline and the two sluts were basically a package deal. Jace was not thrilled with his circumstances. The only thing he was looking forward to about the upcoming dance was the fact that he would be sleeping at Clary's house that night and no dates were allowed so Sebastian couldn't come and ruin their seating arrangement.

As Jace began walking off of the field, he felt his shirt collar being pulled back. He whirled around, about to give Sebastian a face full of fist, when he realized it was Jon that had stopped him.

"Dude, what is your issue? You've been kind of bitchy all week and it's not a good look for you."

"You're really oblivious. You know that?" Jace shot back as he turned to leave.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jonathan called after Jace, some of the hurt seeping into his voice. Jace stopped and turned back to face his best friend.

"I'm sorry okay. I've been really on edge this week. I'm just," Jace stopped to debate how much detail he wanted to go into,"I'm just not psyched about going to homecoming with Kaelie."

"You could have just told me you know."

"I know. And I will get over it. I mean it's one date right?"

"There you go. And we can all unwind at my house afterwards with a movie and a game or something." Jace smiled at Jonathan's response.

"Sounds cool. Look I gotta go meet Clary to work on our bio project but I will see you later."

"See ya!"

* * *

Clary looked up as she heard hurried footsteps coming toward her. Jace sat down in the chair closest to her with a large sigh.

"Practice was that rough?" Clary teased as she reached over to rub his neck. She did this to Jon all the time when he had a rough practice so Jace should have known that it wasn't flirting but he still felt pretty turned on. He shrugged his shoulders to get her hands off and straightened up as he dove into a book about beaver dams. They had been assigned the swamp biome.

"It wasn't horrible. It's just been a long week."

"Well you have homecoming to look forward to on Saturday!" Clary announced excitedly. Jace groaned internally.

"Do you have your dress yet?" Jace asked nonchalantly, hoping to see a picture and approve (or veto) the dress.

"No Izzy is taking me shopping after this." Clary rolled her eyes. Izzy always went way overboard when it came to shopping and Jace knew Clary wasn't fond of shopping. Clary also didn't have much of a fashion sense so Jace knew she would have an amazing dress if Izzy picked it out with her. Not that she wouldn't look amazing in sweatpants with her hair up in a bun. Jace pinched the skin on his forearm to get the thoughts out of his head.

"Hey are you okay? You seem really out of it today. Maybe we should give it a rest and come back to it later?" Jace just nodded his head in response.

"Okay I will see you tomorrow then. Go home and get some rest!" Clary said as she packed up her bag to leave. To leave she had to squeeze between a bookshelf and Jace. As she slid by she lightly traced Jace's back to steady herself. Before letting go she squeezed his shoulder and then walked out of the library.

Jace put his head in his hands. He kept going over and over the past year in his head and tried to try and figure out when things had changed. Sure, he had always had a crush on Clary, but he had also been able to keep his emotional and physical reactions to her in check. He had dated other girls. He had slept at Jon's house without a second thought to the fact that she was sleeping only ten feet away. Now he could barely speak whenever she was within a foot of him and he could not get her off of his mind. After sitting for a good seven minutes, Jace decided he could safely stand and walk to his car.

* * *

Jace, Jonathan, Sebastian, and Simon stood at the bottom of the stairs in the Lightwood's home waiting for Clary and Izzy to come downstairs so they could leave for the dance. A burst of pink appeared at the top of the stairs and Izzy descended in her four inch heels. Simon met her at the bottom of the stairs.

"You look beautiful!" Simon stated as he pecked Izzy on the cheek.

"Thank you! And you look very handsome. Clary is finished. I don't know why she's not down yet! CLARY COME DOWN THE STAIRS!" Everyone looked expectantly at the top step.

"Izzy I can't. I look ridiculous!"

"Clary you look super hot! Get your cute butt downstairs!" The gang heard the click of a door. Everyone turned their gaze to Jace. In any normal situation, one would think that you'd send the big brother upstairs. Jon was a fantastic big brother but when it came to emotions he was kind of clueless and Jace was like Clary's second older brother, unfortunately for him.

Jace walked up the stairs to find the bathroom door to be the only one shut. He knocked on the door but did not wait for an answer before entering.

He found Clary sitting in the center of the white bathroom rug, the green tulle of her skirt splayed around her and held together by a band of gold that wrapped around her chest. Her hair was pinned up in a bun with soft curls hanging around her face. A thin gold barrette sat at the base of the bun. She looked like an angel. Jace sucked in a breath.

"What if he doesn't like me?" Clary stuttered out.

"What are you talking about?"

"Sebastian! What if he doesn't like me? I know I have clown hair and I'm freakishly short and who wears gold unless they're just asking to be looked at? I don't want to be looked at. I don't want the attention. I just want to have fun and not be anxious and…" Jace cut her babbling off with a tight hug. Clary's breathing slowed as she calmed her racing be heart.

"I had no idea it was this important to you."

"Of course it's important! It's my first real date!" Jace's heart clenched as he began to reassure Clary.

"Clary, we will be in the same area and I promise your big brother will be looking out for you and I swear, if that guy doesn't fall in love with you the first time your green eyes meet his, then he's not worthy of you. You look beautiful Clary, now let's go get Sebastian so he can show you off to the rest of the world – or at least the rest of the school." Jace chuckled.

Clary stared at Jace, stunned, for a few minutes before throwing her arms around Jace's neck in the tightest hug her small frame could muster.

"Thank you Jace." Jace's heart broke with those three words as he realized he would have to watch the girl he loved go out with guy after guy and watch her fall for them instead of him. At least _she_ would be happy, he thought to himself.

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	3. Chapter 3

**There have been a few requests for views of other characters. The story is mainly going to be from Jace POV but I will throw in other characters here and there. This is the end of chapter 2 from other points of view - It's a very short kind of teaser chapter.**

 **Please don't hate me.**

 **I (unfortunately) do not own The Mortal Instruments**

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Izzy looked at her work in the mirror and smiled. She had picked a green and gold dress for Clary, not only because she looked beautiful in both colors but because green matched Clary's eyes and gold matched Jace's eyes. Isabelle knew that Clary had had a crush on Jace for as long as she could remember. She had thought that this might be the year they got together but then came Sebastian. He was nice enough but Izzy was still holding out hope that her brother and her best friend would get together.

Izzy shook her head to clear her thoughts and then placed her hand on Clary's shoulder.

"I'm going to go downstairs and introduce you, that way you can focus entirely on Jace's reaction when his jaw drops. Okay?" Clary did not respond with words, she just nodded her head as Isabelle walked to the door.

* * *

As soon as Izzy walked out the door, Clary sank down onto the white bathroom rug. She was mentally scolding herself for saying yes to Sebastian when she could have had Jace. But then she thought about how Jace already had a date, and a beautiful one at that, so there was no way he would end up with Clary at the end of the night, no matter how much effort Izzy had put into making her look presentable.

Clary thought she had heard Izzy introduce her from downstairs but she couldn't bring herself to stand up – still having an internal battle over Jace. She sat there for a few more minutes before hearing the door open.

"What if he doesn't like me?" Clary stuttered out to Izzy without looking up from the piece of tulle she was twisting in her fingers.

"What are you talking about?" Jace's voice responded. Clary looked up and met his eyes, realizing that if she had worded that any differently, thinking she was talking to Izzy, Jace would have found out. She quickly responded with a story about being worried about impressing Sebastian. A story that she would never remember the details of if asked to repeat them.

Jace answered her worries with promises to protect her and telling her that Sebastian would love how she looked. Clary listened intently for a hint of emotion that might show her that Jace reciprocated her feelings. She didn't hear it. As Jace finished, she realized that she would just have to continue on in life without trying to impress Jace. If he hadn't fallen for her at all in the past ten years, what would change today or tomorrow? Clary suddenly realized that she had been utterly silent while making her decision.

To break the quiet, Clary threw her arms around Jace's neck and hugged as tightly as she could, as though she were able to keep the idea of him in her mind if she just held on long enough.

"Thank you." She said with a sign, her longing for him leaving her body with her breath.

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 **Next real chapter coming within the next two days :)**

 **please review**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N – I may be changing the rating to M – not because of lemons or anything but because of triggers and content. Just a heads up. Also chapters can either be longer with more time in between updates of stay the same. Let me know how you feel!**

 **Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments.**

 **Find the COB quote in the chapter :)**

 **Enjoy and Review.**

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Jace walked into the dace with very low expectations. Clary was not his date and he had some bimbo (VERY attractive bimbo, but a bimbo none the less) for a date. And worst of all, Clary's date was Sebastian. Jace honestly didn't know much about Sebastian but it didn't stop him from hating the boy that got to slow dance with _his_ girl.

Jace scolded himself again. Clary was not his, nor would she ever be. He had made sure of that in the bathroom earlier.

The dance was like any other high school dance. Everyone danced in groups of six to fourteen people, making circles that looked like someone should jump in the middle and show off, but no one ever would. They played pop music so mainstream that every single person could sing along to every single song if they wanted to. And then they played the cheesiest slow dance songs they could possibly find. You could always tell if a couple was dating by how they slow danced. Jace, who wanted no part in any relationship with Kaelie, held his date at arm's length like a middle school dance.

Jace was counting down the minutes until he could leave, sit next to Clary on the couch, and never have to see her and Sebastian slow dancing again.

* * *

Everyone stumbled into the Morgenstern's house dead on their feet from all of the dancing. They all headed into the movie room. Jace and Jon took up their usual spots on the L shaped couch. Simon and Izzy took the gaming chairs and Clary broke the mold and sat against the couch by her brother's head. Jace threw her a confused look and she just smiled back at him. Jon picked a random comedy from Netflix for background noise, knowing that everyone would just talk over it.

The gang decided on a game of Never Have I Ever. Jace smirked at Clary but she wasn't looking. He knew she hated this game because she never got out. The point was obviously to have the most fingers still up at the end of the game but their group took it the opposite way because it meant you had done more and it was just more fun that way.

Izzy started them off.

"Never have I ever been a redhead." Izzy smirked at Clary. Surprisingly, Jon and Clary both clapped their hands and put down a finger.

"Jon you're a total toehead, when were you ever a ginger?" Jace sputtered out through bursts of laughter.

"Well when I was in seventh grade I was tired of not looking like my mom or Clary so I saved up thirty bucks and bought the cheapest hair color I could find."

"Why do I not remember this? We were still friends in seventh grade!" Jace exclaimed.

"Remember that week I said I was grounded? Well I was actually just waiting until we could go into the salon and change the color back." Everyone burst out into laughter.

Simon was next.

"Never have I ever kissed a boy." Everyone but Simon clapped and put down a finger. Izzy and Clary looked questioningly at Jace and Jon while they looked mischievously at each other.

"No way!" Clary shouted. "You kissed each other!?"

"It was a dare during soccer camp okay! It was under one second. It was literally just a peck!" Jon hurriedly explained while Jace just continued snickering and making kissy faces at Jon.

The rounds continued like that, each person telling their story if it was a surprise, until Jace ran out of fingers. When you ran out of fingers, to get reinstated in the game, you had to complete a dare. Since he ran out of fingers on Izzy's round, she got to pick his dare.

"I dare you to," Izzy looked around the room contemplating her options, "kiss Clary." Izzy smirked at herself knowing what a favor she would be doing Clary, and entirely unaware of the conversation the two had had in the bathroom earlier.

Clary subtly shook her head at Izzy while Jace climbed down off the couch to go to Clary. Clary was shaking her head while Jace was thoroughly pleased with his dare. At least he would get to kiss her one last time since he had given her up.

As he got closer to her face, Clary stuck out a hand and hit his chest, blocking him from moving any farther.

"Clary what's up? We've kissed before!"

"Yeah in the fifth grade so it really didn't count!"

"How swiftly you dismiss our love." Jace joked as he leaned forward again. Clary put out her hand again and stopped Jace with a soft shove.

"Jace, I can't I have a boyfriend and it wouldn't be fair to him." Everyone stared at Clary in shock.

"You have a b-b-boyfriend?" Jace stuttered.

"What the hell Clary, why haven't you said anything?" Jonathan boomed.

"It's new. As in about an hour ago, when we left the dance. I haven't had time to say anything! But I haven't even kissed Sebastian yet so I don't think it would be fair to him to go and kiss Jace right now!"

"You're dating Sebastian?!" Izzy screeched with excitement.

Jace just stared in shock. If his heart wasn't entirely broken after telling her to go get another boy in the bathroom earlier, it had just shattered when she shared that news.

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	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for not updating. We're back on the regular schedule. Please enjoy and review!**

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Jace sat staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep due to the bombshell that had been dropped on him earlier.

Clary had a boyfriend. His heart physically hurt at the thought of those four words.

Jace scolded himself. He had made a promise to himself that he wouldn't pine over the unattainable anymore. He was in fact still upset that the unattainable just happened to be the possible great love of his life and he had…

Love?

Jace shot up into a sitting position from where he had been laying on the couch. He had just admitted that he was in love with Clary. _Oh well, everyone is asleep, and at least I didn't say it out loud_ , Jace thought to himself.

"Dude, you're in love with Clary?" Simon whisper shouted.

"Shit! I said that out loud! You had better not utter a word of this to anyone rat boy." Jace threatened.

"I would never do that. I may not be the golden god of this fine group but I'm certainly not an untrustworthy little creeper. I just happened to be awake and you said that out loud. Honestly I'm surprised you didn't wake Clary. She is such a light sleeper." Jace groaned internally at Simon's last statement. He wasn't sure why but Clary being a light sleeper made her ten times more adorable.

Jace just nodded in response to Simon and laid back down.

* * *

The locker slammed with more force than Jace had ever thought he could muster as he turned away from the two people that had taken up post three lockers down from his.

His stomach churned every time he saw Sebastard take Clary's hand in his.

Jace was so focused on stoking the fire of his hatred that he almost walked face first into Jonathan.

"Whoa dude! Where were you at just now? I barely had time to stop you before you took me down!"

"Sorry I have some stuff on my mind." Jace muttered.

"Well get rid of it, because we have a group date on Friday!" Jon beamed.

"Jon no! I told you, homecoming with Kaelie was literal hell! I can't handle an entire date with her, sitting down somewhere where there is no loud music or general space to keep us apart. I don't think I could even muster up…"

"Dude! Jace! It's not Kaelie. Aline could tell you two didn't hit it off so she talked her friend Seelie into going. Not that she needed much convincing." Jon nudged Jace with his elbow. Jace sighed again. Seelie wasn't quite as much of a ditz as Kaelie, and at least she wasn't a bitch to Clary all the time.

"Who else is coming? You said it was a group, not a double."

"Oh I told Clary that she and Seb could come too. She was nervous about going on a first real date with him. We're just gonna go get some pizza and play some arcade games. Real simple and low key." Jon checked his watch, "hey I gotta sprint to class but I will text you details later!" Jon slapped Jace on the back as he walked away.

Jace stood in the hallway stunned. He now had to watch Clary on a date with Sebastian. He shook out his golden hair in an attempt to shake out the thoughts that were beneath it. He had to let her go. If he wanted any chance at a good senior year, he had to move on and realize he couldn't have her. He let out an audible growl of irritation at his situation and ran a hand over his face and through his hair.

"Hey, history isn't that bad! I thought it was kinda fun sitting next to me!" A voice broke his thoughts as a hand attempted to gently bring his arm back to his side and away from pulling his hair.

"I love sitting next to you Red. It's Mr. Spectre that I can't handle." Jace joked, falling into step beside Clary as they walked to class.

"You excited for Friday?" Clary smiled.

"Yeah. I'm excited to hang out with you guys." Jace stated sincerely. He was going to try. He looked over at Clary and she brushed her hair over her shoulder as she pulled out her textbook, before looking up at Jace and smiling.

* * *

"Jace, I have no idea how to play this!" Seelie giggled. Jace was actually enjoying himself. He smiled as he showed her how to properly play ski ball. Clary and Sebastian were playing in the two rows to his left. Clary had always won ski ball whenever she played Jace and Jon. She was looking very confidant. Sebastian on the other hand was beginning to look very flustered as he had obviously not known about Clary's secret talent.

All three buzzers went off at once to signal the end of the round and Clary's station flashed lights from the top.

"YES! I told you and you didn't believe me! Haha! I am so good!" Clary jumped up and down in celebration. Sebastian calmed her by wrapping his arms around her waist.

"That's it," he said as he leaned down to kiss her cheek, "after pizza we are having a rematch. I won't give up that easily."

Jace's heart twinged for a second before someone else's hand intertwined with his and pulled gently.

"Hey Jace, the pizza was delivered to the table. Let's go join Jon and Aline."

Jon and Aline had already claimed the left side of the table so Jace and Seelie claimed the right. He realized after he sat down that he had only left one seat that was at the head of the table but that didn't seem to bother Sebastian and Clary as he sat down with her half on his hip and half on the arm of the chair.

"You're lucky your skinny ass can fit on that arm girl! I workout like every other day and I still can't get my butt that tight." Aline exclaimed while taking a small bite of her salad. Clary blushed as she set down the pizza that she had already brought halfway to her mouth.

"Thanks Aline." Clary smiled halfheartedly. Sebastian noticed her hesitation towards the pizza and began groaning as he ate it. Clary smacked his chest.

"Sorry babe, I just can't help myself. It's so good!" Jace was rather put off by Sebastian's love-making noises toward his slice of pizza but he couldn't help but feel grateful when he saw Clary pick up her slice again out of amusement.

* * *

At the end of the night, Jace and Clary were set to drive home together as Clary was close to curfew and Jace simply lived next door. Seelie lived on the way to Sebastian's house so he gave her a lift so Jace could get Clary home on time. Jon and Aline, akin to how the rest of the night had gone, decided to go home in Jon's car by themselves.

As Jace pulled onto their street, he turned to talk to Clary.

"How did tonight go in your book?"

"It actually went really well. I liked the group setting for a first date. I was a lot less nervous."

"I noticed. It seemed like you really had fun! I know the anxiety gets you sometimes but…" Jace trailed off as he noticed Clary straighten her posture as they neared her house.

"Red, what's up?" She pulled out her phone that was vibrating in her back pocket. It was an unknown number. She gave Jace a questioning look before answering it.

"Hello?" Clary asked the voice on the other end of the line as Jace pulled into the driveway and stopped the car. He heard Clary take in a sharp breath before throwing her phone on the back seat and reaching for the keys that were still sitting in the ignition. Jace's hand grabbed hers before she could reach the chain.

"JACE START THE CAR!" Clary screamed as tears suddenly began flowing down her face.

"Clary, what was…"

"JACE START THE FUCKING CAR!" Clary began to hyperventilate. Jace didn't know whether to start the car or help her breathe again. After she threw him a look he figured starting the car would help her breathe.

"Clary, love, you need to breathe. I'm gonna start the car and I'm gonna drive," Jace said calmly as he pulled out of the driveway, "I know it's hard but you gotta tell me where I'm going or I can't help you." Clary simply looked stunned. Tears were still streaming but she looked like she could breathe without massive amounts of effort now.

"Clary?"

"H-hospital." Clary stuttered out. Jace flipped his gaze to the road and sped.

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 **PLEASE REVIEW! Next chapter will be up sometime within the next week. 15 reviews and you get it tomorrow ;) Not next chapter, but the chapter after that (chapter7) I will be changing the rating to M – there will be no lemons or anything like that – I am changing the rating due to mature situations and triggers. PM me with questions about the rating change.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here is some character info; not at all necessary for you to understand the story but I figured it's here if you want it:**

 **Jace Lightwood– 18 years old. Senior in high school.**

 **Sebastian Verlac – 18 years old. Senior in high school.**

 **Jonathan Morgenstern – 18 years old. Senior in high school. His last name is his birth father's name as opposed to Clary who took her mother's maiden name because their father left before she was born.**

 **Clary Fray – 16 (Almost 17). Senior in high school. Skipped 11th grade.**

 **Isabelle Lightwood – 17. Junior in high school**

 **Simon Lewis – 17. Junior in high school.**

 **Enjoy and Review please!**

 **All characters belong to Cassandra Clare.**

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 _Clary walked through the doors nervously, pulling at the sleeves of her sweater. She had let her best friend Izzy dress her for the first day of high school and the outfit she had chosen turned out to be something that Clary would never, in a million years, have picked for herself._

 _She succeeded in sticking to the sides of the hallways and under everyone's radar until she got to her locker. She began having trouble opening the locker and it was obvious to the sophomore whose locker was two down from hers._

 _"Better hurry up or you'll be late for class." The sophomore stated in a high pitched and nasally voice. Clary felt her hair being pulled from behind and spun to try to find her attacker. She did a full three-sixty before finding that her attacker had come to a stop next to the nasally sophomore. Now before her stood two slutty sophomore girls that would prove to be the bane of her high school existence._

 _Clary quickly turned back to her locker in an attempt to block out the voices of the girls, and to actually put her books away for her later periods._

 _"I know you probably wanted to look like a big girl on your first day of high school but honey, that sweater just makes you look like a big girl." The hair-puller snickered._

 _"It must be hell to try to find anything that matches with that hair. Just know you haven't succeeded." The second girl added in._

 _The bell rang to signal that everyone should be in class and Clary turned away from her locker, still avoiding eye contact with the girls, to move toward her first period. She stumbled back toward her locker when she was met with a wall of pink Juicy Couture. Then the panic began to set in._

 _"Honey you should really know that you don't have a chance in high school. You should probably just give up and go find a teacher to homeschool you now." Clary felt the pains begin shooting into her side. They happened every time an anxiety attack started. Soon she would have shortness of breath and she wouldn't be able to speak unless someone calmed her down, and she had a feeling that these girls had no intention of helping her._

 _Clary began to slide down the locker face towards the ground as the pain started to worsen and the trouble breathing began to kick in. She never hit the ground though as two tanned arms pulled her back up to standing._

 _"Kaelie. Aline. Don't you have some class to go to right now?"_

 _"Oh come on Jacey! We have a free period and decided to show the freshman how this school works!"_

 _"Yeah well sleep in next time. No one cares for your help." The girls began to walk away with a flip of their hair. Jace turned his attention to Clary who couldn't see through her blurry vision._

 _"Clary you need to breathe. Do you need anything?"_

 _"J-Jo-J.."_

 _"You need Jon?" Clary nodded her head so minutely, Jace was glad he had been watching so intently. Clary began to push Jace toward the direction of Jon's classroom. Jace grabbed onto her shoulders gently._

 _"Clary I will text Jon for you. I am not going to leave you alone," Jace continued talking to Clary as he texted Jon, looking up at Clary's face every other word to make sure she wasn't getting worse, "Clary, start counting your breaths. Go up to ten and back down to one. Then start again. Can you do that for me?"_

 _Jon came running down the hallway at top speed and gently pushed Jace out of the way to be in front of Clary. He brought her head into his chest and, while keeping one hand behind her head, removed her hands that were clutched tightly against her side as though she were trying to stop a wound from bleeding. He calmly and firmly repeated instructions to her such as "keep breathing" and "you're gonna be okay". Eventually her breathing slowed and she relaxed into her brother's hug._

 _"Thank's Jon."_

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Jace looked over at Clary in the passenger seat. He had been driving a minimum of 7 over the speed limit the entire way to the hospital and they were still ten minutes away. She hadn't spoken a word to him and he wasn't sure who was in the hospital or what had happened but he saw her anxiety set in and knew it wouldn't be for nothing.

He hadn't seen her have any anxiety attacks since the end of her freshman year but, as he tried to keep his attention on the road, he couldn't help but notice her begin to cover her ribcage with her hands as her face warped into a wince.

"Clary, count your breaths. Breathe in and out slowly and count your breaths." Jace stated calmly as he continued driving. He saw Clary's chest slowly moving up and down out of the corner of his eye and was grateful that her attack hadn't progressed too far yet.

He whipped his car into the spot closest to the emergency room's door. Clary was out of the car before it had stopped moving and she stumbled from the momentum. Jace burst out of the driver's side, barely remembering to turn off the car and take the keys, before following after Clary.

She was already at the front desk, yelling at the receptionist, when Jace got through the automatic sliding doors.

"…Morgenstern! Jonathan Morgenstern! My brother where is he?!" Clary yelled as she started toward the doors that lead back to the patient rooms. The receptionist muttered something into her earpiece as Clary began down the hallway. She didn't get more than three feet before a male and a female nurse walked briskly out from behind a nurse's station and escorted her back out.

Jace walked forward to receive her so they didn't bring her into some random security room. The female nurse quickly realized that the male nurse was strong enough to restrain the small redhead and went back to her duties. The man gently nudged Clary into Jace's arms and she collapsed crying into his embrace.

"How much do you know so far?" The nurse, whose nametag read Jeremiah, asked Jace.

"Not much. I was just focused on getting her here." Jace replied worriedly.

"Jonathan Morgenstern was in a car accident about half an hour ago," Clary released a new round of sobs at this reiteration of what she had already heard over the phone and Jace hugged her tighter, "there was only one passenger in each car but both are in critical condition. The internal injuries are at about the same state but Jonathan will be in surgery much longer as his windshield was the one that shattered from the impact and a large majority of the shattered glass lodged in his left arm and abdomen."

Clary continued crying but her sobs became silent as she started to shake. Jace gestured to Jeremiah that he needed to stop talking.

"I will update you in a bit." The nurse caught on with a nod.

As Jeremiah walked back into the patient's hallway, Clary took a step back, only to be pushed back into Jace's arms by a person rushing to the front desk.

"My brother was just admitted here! He was in a car crash. Where is he?" The dark haired boy rushed out angrily.

"Yes. Mister Morganstern?" The receptionist asked calmly.

"No! Verlac! James Verlac!" The voice yelled back angrily. Clary spun out of Jace's grasp.

"Sebastian?"

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 **Review Please! 15 or more reviews in the next day and I will update again this week :) Otherwise next chapter comes next week!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I just spent the past week moving into college so forgive me for the wait. I tried to make it a longer chapter to make up for it I didn't plan on posting with the last portion of the previous chapter on here as a recap because I personally never read it on other's stories – I just like to catch up on the entire previous chapter. Please let me know in the reviews if you would like to see that though!**

 *** _POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING IF WOUND DESCRIPTIONS MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE*_**

 **All medical information in this chapter was provided by WebMd**

 **All Characters belong to C.C**

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Clary stared stunned as she watched Sebastian's gestures become bigger and more violent as he ignored the desk attendant's attempts to calm him and give him directions. She stepped forward out of Jace's grasp and reached out to touch Sebastians arm. As she made contact with his bicep he shoved her harshly out of the way.

Jace caught Clary before she hit the ground. He righted her, made sure she was stable, and then rushed after Sebastian. He saw him yelling at a female nurse who seemed to be struggling to regain control of her current situation. Jace pulled him roughly to the side by his hood and forced him to stop swinging.

"What the hell are you doing man? You just shoved your girlfriend to the ground! You're freaking the nurses out! I know you're freaking out because you don't know what happened with James. We don't know what happened yet with Jon either! Calm down and just know they're doing everything that they can to help him."

"Your idiot friend crashed into my brother! Why would you think I would be calm! Why would I not be freaking out?" Sebastian shoved Jace up against the wall as Jeremiah walked down the hallway towards the boys. Sebastian immediately dropped Jace and paid attention to the doctor.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and you should know that the police have declared that it was in fact Mr. James Verlac who was at fault. His blood alcohol level was .6 over the legal limit and he crashed into the driver's side of the other car. I have updates on both patients if you'd each like to…" Sebastian cut him off with an angry growl. The nurse at the station behind Jeremiah busied herself with paperwork so as not to receive anymore of Sebastian's wrath.

"Just tell us what happened!" Sebastian exploded.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to hear somewhere more private?"

"TELL US WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!"

"Mister Verlac, I'll ask you to calm down one last time or I will have to remove you from the grounds. You are becoming a hazard to the nurses and patients." Sebastian huffed and leaned up against the hospital wall. Jace stood with his body unintentionally angled from Sebastian's so as to create a space for them to privately hear the news.

"As you know, both patients were brought in in critical condition. Mr. Verlac was brought in with shrapnel lodged in his side and a blow to the head. He immediately went into surgery to remove the shrapnel and examine the state of the head wound. It was discovered that Mr. Verlac had received a direct lung injury due to the collapsing of one of his lungs. While we were trying to stabilize him, his oxygen levels dropped to critical but we were, regrettably, unable to bring them back to stable. I'm so sorry but James Verlac was pronounced dead at 12:19 this morning." Jeremiah moved forward to comfort Sebastian but he took off running down the hall. Jace's first thought was to follow him but realized Clary wouldn't be totally stable until she knew what happened with Jon.

"Mr. Morgenstern?" Jace questioned.

"The final diagnosis of Mr. Morgenstern has yet to be fully determined. We still have one final test to perform on him that will be done within the hour. We have confirmed that brain activity is still very active. His heart is fine. When he was hit, his head hit the metal edging on his window causing the brain to swell. When a brain swells, the fluid pushes up against the skull which, in turn, can push down on the brain stem, causing the Reticular Activating System damage. This system is responsible for arousal and awareness."

"English?" Jace asked, worriedly.

"Mr. Morgenstern is currently in a coma. Our final test will determine how severe the coma is and if we should remove him from life support systems or move him into the inpatient ICU." Jace staggered back against the wall before regaining enough stability to move back out into the waiting room and toward Clary.

As he was about to burst through the doors, Jace stopped and composed himself realizing that Clary would need someone who was calm and rational, and Jace was positive that wouldn't be Sebastian.

Walking into the lobby, Jace noticed that Clary was not where he had left her. He looked around and panicked for a moment before seeing her hair illuminated by the streetlights outside. She turned around almost as if she had sensed his presence and was about to walk back to him when she seemed to be jerked back. Jace took a step forward before realizing that she was outside with Sebastian and he had his hand wrapped around her wrist, restraining her from walking inside. Clary whipped her head around before yanking her arm away and walking back toward the double doors.

Jace watched as Sebastian kicked the car tires of his truck. When Clary reached the double doors she paused for a moment and wiped her face before she walked in.

"Jace?" she asked quietly.

"He's alive Clary. He's alive…"

"You're hesitating. What is wrong?" Clary's breathing sped up as she reached unconsciously for her ribcage. Jace stepped forward and moved to put his hand over hers and calm her down but she jerked back and looked at him expecting an answer.

"They still have to do one more test on him. They will be done in an hour. It's to figure out how bad…its to…to figure out what state…to learn more about his…his coma." Clary immediately dropped to the floor and began hyperventilating.

"Clary! Clary, love, you need to calm yourself. Breathe in and out slowly. Start counting your breaths." Jace repeated the same instructions to her as her panic began getting worse. Tears were streaming from her face as the pain worsened.

"Clary, what do you need?"

"Jo…J…J…" Jace's face fell as he realized what she was trying to say.

"Clary I can't get Jon, he's not going to be able to help you right now." Clary's hyperventilation worsened as Jace denied her of her brother's presence.

One of the nurses had become aware of their situation and came to take Clary back into the patient's ward, thinking that they were in the ER because of her attack and not the other way around. As the nurse wrapped her arms under Clary's to pull her up off of the floor, Clary began to cry and thrash.

"Jace! JACE! No..Ja…ace…J…" Jace reached forward to pull her from the nurse's arms. The nurse immediately released her, knowing not to try to restrain a violent panic attack, and let Jace take her again.

Having subconsciously realized that Jace was the only one here for her at the time, she stopped thrashing once he had her again. Jace did what he had seen Jon do multiple times for her and brought her head into his chest, whispering calming things and straightforward instructions. Eventually she released the tight hold on her ribcage and evened her breathing. Tears were still streaming down her face but Jace assumed that was because she was still upset.

"Clary, I'm gonna take you to my house okay?" Clary nodded and sniffled. She moved to get up but Jace scooped her up in his arms before she could even make it onto her knees. Clary gave up as soon as Jace steadied himself and curled into the arms that were holding him, tucking her face into the crook of his neck. Jace made sure to keep his heartbeat steady before scolding himself for being excited in this situation. But who wouldn't have even a glimmer of happiness when they had the girl of their dreams wrapped up in their arms?

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 **Thank you! PLEASE REVIEW! It really helps me with ideas for the next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys – sorry it takes me so long to update, it's just me getting adjusted to college life and stuff. I'm going to say that updates will happen a MINIMUM of once a month (just so you guys aren't waiting and expecting something). That way you get a nice surprise if it's more! Thank you for the reviews last chapter! They were really constructive and gave me a few ideas for moving forward. For those of you that are worried, please keep in mind that this IS IN FACT a Clace story! We just have to get through the Clebastian to get to the good stuff ;)**

 **Cassie owns all the things.**

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Jace kept his eyes on the road just as much as he did on Clary the whole way home. She seemed fine. Exhausted, but fine. She stared out the passenger window the entire time. Half the times that Jace looked at her, he was just checking to make sure she was alive as she hadn't moved. Her feet were tucked up under her and her forehead rested on the seatbelt in the few inches of tension that were created by her feet stretching the lower half of the belt. She looked so small. Jace suddenly became exceedingly grateful for the fact that it was only Saturday morning. He would have the weekend to try to bring Clary back into their world.

Clary hit her head on the window as Jace went up the curb and into his driveway. Jace paused to look at her, worried after hearing the thump, and noticed she still hadn't moved or even made a sound. As he put the car into park, he looked up at the living room window to see a light on and a shadow sitting on the small loveseat that occupied the space below the front window. Jace groaned internally. He knew Maryse would be mad he had stayed out so late but at least she wouldn't murder him – given the circumstances she might not even ground him.

Jace walked around the car to the passenger door and carefully unbuckled Clary before scooping her out of the passenger seat. He kicked the door shut with his foot and headed toward the front porch. He easily maneuvered the stairway leading up to the large estate and opened the door without having to unlock it. He almost walked right into an angry Maryse but her expression changed almost immediately when she saw Clary in his arms. She moved to touch her forehead but Jace jerked back ever so slightly.

"Let me put her in the guest room and then I promise I will explain." Jace plead. Maryse simply nodded and cleared the way so Jace could walk up the stairs. At the top of the stairs lay Isabelle's room, her door tightly shut. Across the hall was the bathroom. Max's room was also on this floor – he was away at boarding school for the next two years. At the end of the hall lie a master bedroom and another staircase – which Jace made his way up. The third floor held Alec's bedroom – who was away at college – Jace's bedroom, and the guest bedroom, along with a rec room. Jace carefully pushed open the door to the guestroom, nudged back the covers, and placed Clary under them. Her phone was in her jacket pocket so he pulled it out and set it on the night stand before covering her up again.

Once Jace was back downstairs in the armchair across from Maryse, he began to recollect the night's events in hopes that she would be understanding of his lateness. As he got to the part about Jon's diagnosis, he realized he hadn't really had time to process it himself. He had almost immediately put on this calm and collected façade for Clary's sake and hadn't even taken a moment to realize his best friend was in a coma. At the realization, his shoulders shook with an incredibly heavy yet silent sob which proceeded down his spine. Within seconds he felt Maryse put her arms around him and he began to calm himself.

"Hey, Jace. Jonathan will be fine. We will call the doctors as soon as you and Clary are awake in the morning and we will try to get ahold of Clary's parents somehow as soon as we have any news about Jon, okay? I know it's tough but so is Jon and he's going to be just fine." Jace heaved a heavy sigh at her final words and began to calm down. He was struck by how well this woman holding him did her job which was simply, to be a mom. He was so calmed by her presence that it was only after she had released him from her hug that he noticed how utterly exhausted he was.

"Why don't you get some sleep Jace?" Maryse stated calmly while guiding him to the stairs by his elbow. He climbed each step painstakingly slow, allowing each stair to add weight to his foot as the soles of his socks scuffed their way up. Eventually he made it into his room, shut his door, and threw his shirt and pants into a pile in the corner – all in one swift movement on his way to collapse on the bed.

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Jace rubbed at his sleep filled eyes as he trudged into the brightness of the kitchen. He had gone to check on Clary before he had come downstairs and found her curled up and still asleep.

"Good morning!" Isabelle sung cheerfully while flipping a pancake.

"Isabelle, you should probably know what happened last night before…"

"CLARY!?" Isabelle exclaimed. Jace whipped around to see the short redhead standing in the doorway. Isabelle looked suspiciously from Clary to Jace and back again. Her eyes went wide before narrowing and asking Jace to talk to her in the other room. Jace held up an index finger and she walked into the dining room.

Jace turned to Clary who was staring down at the angles of the tiling in the floor. He coughed and she moved to sit at the counter but she still wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Hey Red, you want some orange juice?" Jace asked softly. Clary simply nodded her head in return. Jace smiled at the fact that there was at least the promise of getting her to eat something. He got out a glass and carefully filled it half full with orange juice before gently placing it in front of Clary's tensed hands.

"Drink up, you gotta keep that carrot top nice and orange." Jace added playfully, yet still soft. Clary's mouth jerked up in one corner in a sort of pity smile – acknowledging that what Jace had said would normally be funny but there was no way she was going to start laughing right now.

"I'll be right back, okay Red?" Clary once again gave the non-verbal response of simply nodding her head.

Jace walked into the dining room to Izzy who appeared to be fuming.

"Jace Wayland! I don't care if you're my adopted brother, I'm going to murder you!" Izzy whisper-yelled.

"Izzy what are you…"

"No Jace! You can't just go and sleep with my best friend in the whole world after she just went on a date with another guy. She obviously looks hungover and I swear to god if you took advantage of her…" Jace cut her off by slapping his hand over her mouth before she got to full on yelling.

"I DID NOT sleep with Clary. God, I don't know why on this sane planet earth that THAT is the conclusion you would jump to. If you would've given me five more seconds in there. I would have told you what happened last night. I'm not sure that I can recount it all myself, you might have to ask mom, but just be really careful around Clary. The main thing is to make sure she's okay right now." Isabelle looked at Jace suspiciously before nodding. Jace turned to walk back to Clary but Izzy grabbed his wrist and turned him to ask one more question.

"Why is Clary here and not home with Jon?" Izzy asked quietly. Jace pulled his arm out of her grip and grabbed onto his wrist with his other hand in an attempt to create some sort of calming motion.

"Clary can't stay with Jon right now. Jon…he's…Jon is in the hospital. Jon is in a coma."

Before Izzy even had time to gasp in shock, there was a loud bang, crash, and the sound of broken glass coming from the kitchen.

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 **Thank you for reading! PLEASE REVIEW! It truly gives me inspiration to write more when I get more reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Y'all are gonna hate me for this but this is only a VERY short chapter. The next chapter is entirely written but I felt the two pieces just didn't fit together well so I made a different chapter altogether for Clary's visit to Jon and other events. This will be uploaded probably by Sunday night so stay tuned. It's already written. Just adding finishing touches. Please review.**

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Jace ran around the corner and through the doorway, holding onto the doorframe in relief when he saw the sight before him and that it was not as bad as he originally imagined. Clary was standing before him, her glass of orange juice shattered at her feet. Clary's eyes were wide in shock, staring down at the glass. Jace moved to step toward her and she finally broke her gaze away from the shards at her feet to look up at him and Izzy, who had just entered the room and was standing just behind Jace's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I …it just…I don't even know…it slipped…" Clary managed to stutter out as tears began streaming down her face. Izzy, the only one who had something other than socks on her feet, stepped through the glass shards and wrapped Clary in a tight hug. Jace ached at seeing her so distraught.

"It's okay Clary," Izzy whispered, "we have so many more cups." Clary just sniffed as she began to dry her eyes.

Maryse walked into the kitchen just as Jace moved to get the broom from the closet in the other room. Her voice stopped him from moving any farther and Clary's crying noises immediately silenced.

"I just got off the phone with the doctors." She stated calmly.

"When can I go see him?" Clary rushed forward, not noticing that a fragment of the cup had lodged under her white ankle socks.

"Sweetie, they've got him on life support. There's a really good chance for him to come out of this, but they need the weekend to set everything up properly and make sure he stays stable. I promise I will take you on Monday as soon as we wake up – you can be late to school in order to see your brother. I know how important this is to you."

Clary staggered when she was told she wasn't able to see her brother. The glass slipped out from under her foot and her sock began slowly turning pink and then red. She only nodded in response to seeing Jon on Monday and began padding lightly down the hardwood hallways.

Izzy immediately said something about the first aid kit and ran to follow Clary upstairs. Jace just stared after her, amazed that she was so emotionally numb that the sensation of pain hadn't even been triggered by the cut on her foot. For a few seconds the air around him seemed suspended as he pondered her reaction in silence and wondered silently to himself if you could truly die from a broken heart.

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 **Please Review! It is so much more appreciated and helpful than you may think.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Not gonna apologize for being super late on updating – shit happens. I will say a huge thank you though to the people who are still reading I'm going to attempt to stay on the once a month update schedule but I am a college student and there are no promises. Thank you for reading and PLEASE REVIEW!**

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As soon as Jace heard the shower turn on in the guest room, he bolted down the stairs and into the kitchen, almost running into Maryse.

"Can I please go to the hospital with you?" Jace rushed out, out of breath from taking three stairs at a time. Maryse started to shake her head and opened her mouth to reply but Jace cut her off.

"Mom please. I know Jon needs time to heal and doesn't need visitors right now but I won't even go in the room. I just want to make sure Clary is okay." Maryse softened her gaze at the mention of Clary and nodded her head.

"It'll be good for her to have someone to walk into school with." Jace brightened up and shot upstairs to get dressed. After throwing on a grey long sleeve t-shirt and some jeans he walked steadily out of his room to find Clary standing at the top of the stairs. She was looking at the stairs ponderingly. Her weight was balanced so that there was no pressure on her left foot, the one she had cut up. Jace hadn't seen her worry about it when she was walking so he figured it was an unconscious decision. He walked up to her, about to put his hand on her shoulder, when she spoke.

"Have a good day at school." She stated, emotionless.

"Clary, I'm going with you to the hospital," she started to protest but Jace caught her hand in his and continued talking, "I know you want some time alone with your brother, and you can take all the time you need, but I'm not letting you walk out of that hospital or into school by yourself."

Clary's face brightened at his explanation.

"You really don't have to. Seb said he'd meet me at the doors when I got to school." Jace's heart sunk in his chest.

"He called me yesterday, crying, and apologized. I know he was just upset about his brother, I mean, look what a mess I've been and my brother is at least still breathing." She laughed at herself after finishing and Jace dropped her hand.

"Clary, you have every right to be a mess. And I don't care if Sebastian is going to walk you into school, I'm still going with you. Jon is my friend too. I want to know that you're both okay." Clary just nodded and stepped forward to go down the stairs, leaving Jace stunned and broken, staring after her.

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"Alright Miss Fray, I can't let your guardian past the doors because she isn't immediate family but you can come back and see him if you're comfortable." The nurse spoke softly, as if she was afraid any amount of volume might cause Clary to shatter. Clary was already standing a sizeable distance from Maryse, and even farther from Jace who was sitting in the corner of the waiting room though still listening intently. Clary just nodded and walked into the white sterile hallway.

Jace sat staring at the double doors for almost an hour before Clary re-emerged from behind them. She seemed to be fine at first glance but her eyes were glassy with unshed tears and there were tear tracks running down her cheek, showing she had just stopped crying. She simply looked at Maryse and nodded before walking out of the hospital to the car. Maryse turned to the nurse that had walked Clary out.

"How is her brother?"

"He's stable. That's about it. He's hooked up to a lot of machinery – He's still in a coma so we can't rely on his body to keep everything running properly but he's stable enough that there is absolutely no danger of us taking him off of life support. He will stay here in the ICU for about another week and then we will move him up to the inpatient ward." Maryse thanked the nurse and motioned to Jace that they were leaving.

Jace crawled into the backseat of the car next to Clary. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her shoulders were silently moving up and down but overall she looked more okay than she had been in the past few days.

"Do you need to talk about anything?" Jace asked quietly as Maryse got into the driver's seat and turned the car on. Clary just shook her head and turned to look out the window.

* * *

As they pulled into the school parking lot, Clary quickly thanked Maryse before bolting out of the car and into the front doors.

"Make sure she's okay today, we will all talk when you guys get home from school" Maryse calmly addressed Jace. Jace nodded and climbed out of the car.

As he walked in the front doors, he saw Clary running into the courtyard. He picked up his pace to see where she was going, he knew her class was the other way. Rounding the corner, he saw Sebastian standing against the wall. Clary ran up to him and he wrapped her in a hug, pulling back after a few seconds to wipe tears from her cheek. Jace turned his back and walked in the other direction quickly, wanting to get as far away from the happy couple as possible.

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Jace walked into the lunchroom with the intent to sit at his normal place with the soccer team. His gaze fluttered to a table in the far corner where he saw Sebastian and Clary sitting with Izzy. He turned to walk over when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"How are you doing man?" Simon asked quietly.

"I'm fine. It's not _my_ brother in the hospital." Jace replied curtly.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about." Simon responded, nodding toward Clary and Sebastian.

"I don't really have a choice do I? I mean, at least she's happy."

"Yeah, well I don't like him. As much as we don't get along, I'd much rather it was your shoulder she was crying on. I just get a bad vibe from Sebastard." Jace burst into laughter.

"Sebastard?"

"Yeah Izzy thought it up. She's not a huge fan either but she's getting to know him because Clary likes him."

"Well, I guess we have at least one thing in common." Jace chuckled.

"And what is that?" Simon questioned.

"We both want Clary to date _me_ , not Sebastard." Jace smirked at Simon. Simon just rolled his eyes and walked toward Izzy. Jace smiled to himself before walking toward the soccer team.

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 **Yes we have to have the Clebastian. Just know that I am a HUGE team Clace supporter and it is coming – but I have to advance the plot. Its only four more chapters of Clebastian, I promise. Please Review – it gives me more motivation to post and sometimes new ideas ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Wow I got like 10 reviews today which may not seem like a lot but this story tends to get an average of seven per chapter – on the high end – so you guys gave me super motivation to post again. Also, this is the longest chapter I've written so far so enjoy :) Keep sending in reviews please! Cassie Clare owns TMI.**

* * *

As Jace walked out to Izzy's car, where she was waiting for him and Clary, he saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye.

"Clary!" Sebastian called down the hallway, running to catch up with her. Jace stopped in the shadows to watch, feeling somewhat guilty for intruding on what looked to be a serious conversation but when he saw fresh tear tracks on Clary's cheeks, all remorse faded away.

Jace was too far away to hear any of their conversation, and Clary's back was facing him so he could no longer see her face but he noticed her casually brush her left side with her left hand before Sebastian picked it up off of her side, moving his face closer to hers and talking at an even lower volume. Clary simultaneously responded by leaning her face into his shoulder and replacing her left hand with her right, placed over her ribcage.

Jace decided he had to make his presence known before either of them saw him and moved to make it look like he had just walked down the hall and seen them there. He scuffed his foot a bit before moving to speak.

"Oh hey Red, I was just about to call you! Izzy is waiting in the car for us." Clary opened her mouth to respond but Sebastian responded first.

"Why don't you wait in the car as well Wayland?" Clary ignored Sebastian's remark and went on with her response as though nothing had happened.

"I'll be right behind you, just give me one second please?" Jace nodded in response and walked out to the car.

He huffed heavily when he entered the backseat through the rear door on the driver's side.

"What's got you so worked up?"

"Nothing. Just not looking forward to this biology project." Izzy turned in her seat and threw Jace an odd look.

"But you're partnered with Clary aren't you? You guys are friends, why would you be upset?" Jace scolded himself for not coming up with a better lie about his mood but he saw Clary walking toward the car in the rearview mirror so he quickly responded.

"Not the partner. Just the actual biology." Izzy nodded and turned back around in her seat as Clary opened the rear door on the passenger side. She looked surprised when she saw Jace in the backseat.

"You always sit shotgun." Clary stated, still looking confused.

"I thought I'd mix things up." Jace responded happily. Clary raised her eyebrows and nodded before setting her backpack in the backseat, shutting the door, and sitting in the front of the car.

* * *

The ride home was full of Isabelle talking and Clary and Jace periodically responding in short sentences.

"Clary, I will call Simon as soon as we get inside and cancel our date tonight so we can have some girl time!" Izzy offered as she pulled the car into the driveway and put it into park.

"Really Iz, I will be fine. I kind of want to have a night to chill and maybe draw a bit. I haven't picked up my sketchbook in almost a week. I've just been too…too distracted." Clary trailed off looking at the ground. Izzy shot Jace a look as he climbed out of the car, obviously trying to tell him to watch Clary tonight.

"Only if you're really sure Clary. You know Simon would understand. He probably is thinking the same thing."

"I'm good. If I have any problems, I'll just call Maryse or Seb."

"I'll be home tonight, maybe Red and I will watch a movie." Jace winked at Clary as he pulled her backpack from the backseat and walked inside the house with it slung over his shoulder.

* * *

"Hey Clary, do you wanna watch a show or something?" Jace asked, holding onto the doorframe of the guestroom so he could lean his head in while his legs were still out of view. Clary smiled as she remembered this way of entering her room that Jace had done since they were little. Jace brightened and stood fully in her doorway, a renewed sense of accomplishment washing over him at the first real smile he had seen from Clary in days.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked.

"Whatever you want." Jace responded warmly. Clary smiled lightly at him and set her sketchbook on the nightstand, pulling back the covers to reveal her yoga pants. She straightened out her off the shoulder navy sweatshirt when she stood up and pulled the extra pencil from her messy bun and set it next to her sketch book. Jace had to hold on to the door frame again to stay standing. It never ceased to amaze him, how small the moments would be when he would find her the most beautiful.

"You ready now?" Clary asked, breaking Jace from his daydream. Jace just nodded and turned to move down the stairs.

* * *

Jace smiled to himself as the credits began to roll on the screen. Clary had fallen asleep almost 45 minutes ago but he hadn't dared move. They had chosen to watch the movie in the front room because it was the only TV in the house that you could play VHS tapes on – for some reason Clary loved the clicking of the VHS tapes as they played, something she said grounded her but that Jace had never understood. This room also was the smallest in the house and only had a loveseat and an armchair. When they had first walked into the room, Jace moved to sit on the armchair but Clary stopped him and said they should sit together as there was only one blanket in the room. It would be like old times.

Jace smiled as Clary shifted in her sleep, moving her shoulder right up against Jace's leg, her head resting in his lap. The door opened just then and Izzy walked in, Simon trailing right behind her. Simon, however, was the first one to notice the two sitting in the front room.

"Ohmigosh she finally admitted…" Simon began loudly. Jace widened his eyes and shook his head vigorously as Clary jolted awake.

"What time is it?" Clary asked sleepily.

"It's only ten, Red." Jace responded moving the blanket from her so she could stand up.

"Oh wow. Well I'm just gonna go to bed." Clary walked toward the staircase. Everyone remained silent for a solid minute after Clary left. Simon and Isabelle still standing in the foyer. Suddenly Izzy dropped her purse, it landed with a large thud, and turned to Jace.

"What did Clary finally admit?" She asked threateningly. Simon's eyes widened as he made eye contact with Jace and realized what a hole he'd dug them both into.

"Nothing. She didn't admit anything." Jace said truthfully. Izzy rolled her eyes.

"What did Simon think she admitted?" Izzy clarified. Jace looked at Simon again, this time with daggers.

"Dude, if you don't tell her, you know she's going to force it out of me." Simon said, ending with a loving look at Isabelle. Jace put his head in his hands and muttered his response.

"I can't hear you." Izzy remarked.

"I said, he thought she admitted that she liked me. But that didn't happen and she's still with Sebastian and even though I've been in love with her for as long as I can remember, there's no way its ever going to happen between us because my best friend is her older brother, she is my little sister's best friend, and she obviously doesn't feel the same as I do for her." Jace was whisper yelling by the end of his small speech. Izzy just smiled.

"You know she's been in love with you for like…well forever?" Jace just glared at Izzy, got up off of the couch, and pushed past her toward the stairs.

"Way to make fun of me Iz. I didn't think you'd be that cold."

"I'm not kidding Jace. She got all dolled up for homecoming for you. She thought, maybe by the end of the night, you'd see what a ditz Kaelie is and just at least hang out with her. Did you not notice that her dress matched with you more than Sebastard!? Did you think I was just that incompetent in fashion? Please! She gave up that night because you were such a good big brother to her. And you know why it was such a big deal when she didn't want to kiss you for truth or dare that night? Because she didn't want to fall for you again. So yeah, she did like you too, probably still does. Why would I lie about something like Clary?"

Jace just stared at Izzy when she had finished. He was still standing on the third step off the ground, not holding onto the railing, arms hanging loosely at his side. He swallowed and took a breath before shaking himself out of it.

"Even if you didn't lie, you still hurt me. You know I can't do anything about it and you still chose to dangle it in front of my face like a piece of bait that I'm supposed to bite, just so I can bleed to death with that hook lodged in my mouth!? She's with Sebastian and I may not like him but I love Clary. She's having such a hard time right now and that relationship is making her smile. No way am I going to ruin that for her."

"YOU make her smile you dumbass! Her relationship with YOU is good – she just fell asleep on your lap, she doesn't even trust Jon enough to do that when he's around! She smiled for the first time in DAYS when you said you'd watch movies with her today! God…I can't…"

"What is going on down here?" Maryse asked from the seventh step, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Izzy glared at Jace before pulling Simon into the kitchen.

"It's just Jace being a pessimist again mom. Don't worry about it. Hopefully he will sleep the shitty personality away."

* * *

 **Please Review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's your March chapter – Its early because finals are coming up. Lots of reviews and you might get a second chapter for March ;) CC owns TMI.**

* * *

 _ **1 Month Later**_

* * *

Jon had been in a coma for exactly 5 weeks today. Clary and Sebastian had been dating for 7 weeks this Saturday. Jace had been miserable for 46 days. It was a Thursday morning – time for day 47, Jace thought as he pulled himself out of bed.

He trudged into the kitchen, sitting at the far end of the island. Clary was already up, showered, and dressed for the day – sitting at the opposite end of the counter wrapped up in whatever she was currently sketching. Izzy sat in the chair next to her, also entirely ready for school, with a half-eaten grapefruit sitting in a small blue bowl. Izzy and Jace hadn't spoken since the night that Izzy found out he was in love with Clary. Sometimes they exchanged words in front of Clary, to make things seem normal for her, but she noticed that something was off – she just didn't say anything.

Jace had been driving his own car to school because Soccer practice was getting longer and more frequent as the team had progressed into the finals. Sebastian was the goalie while Jon was "out of commission". Jace hated when the coach said that. It sounded like a machine that had broken down and was waiting to be fixed by the mechanic. It was all too casual of a phrase. They were literally waiting every moment for a call from the doctor to say Jon had woken up. That, or they would receive a call that the life support was being removed and room 219 of the inpatient ICU ward would be given to a new patient the next day. Every time the phone rang, everyone held their breath.

Maryse walked into the kitchen happily.

"Hey kids! How's everyone's morning?" All three teenagers simply shrugged.

"Wow. Such an overwhelming response. Izzy why are you so dressed up?"

"I always dress this nice for school."

"You're not going to school today remember? Today you're getting your wisdom teeth out." Izzy groaned and Clary stiffened a bit.

"I'll go change into sweats." Izzy grumbled.

"Jace, will you take Clary to school? Clary you'll have to stay after with Jace until soccer is over. You okay with that?"

"Yeah. I will just sketch in the bleachers!" Clary smiled, gathering her things from the counter and pushing them down into her backpack. She threw the bag over her shoulder and turned to Jace.

"I'll go sit in the car and wait?"

"Yeah I'll be out in a sec." Jace replied. When Clary turned around, her hand swung behind her revealing a large bruise wrapping up the side of her hand and halfway around her wrist.

"Clary are you okay?" Maryse said, startled by the appearance of Clary's hand.

"Um yeah? What do you mean?"

"You have a huge bruise on your wrist." Maryse cried worriedly, stepping toward Clary. Jace stood up suddenly from the table and his chair fell over behind him, unbalanced from the speed of his motion.

"Oh that. Yeah we're doing clay in art and it's probably just a combination of hitting the clay so much and pressing on it when I'm drawing. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt, but I'll be careful with it." Clary responded cheerfully, making her way into the garage. Maryse nodded and smiled. Jace squinted his eyes in the direction Clary had gone in. He had walked by the art room when Clary's class was in there and they were working on chalk pastel portraits.

* * *

Jace walked into the lunchroom and headed towards the soccer table, looking around for Clary. It had become habit for him to check on her every day at lunch. He would casually walk by her table on the way to his seat. She usually sat in the far corner of the room but today she was sitting near the front doors and Jace almost missed her as he usually skimmed right to the back of the room. She was sitting on the end of the table, Sebastian on her right side. Kaelie and Aline were sitting across the table and laughing really hard. No one else would have noticed, but Jace saw Clary slowly wrap her right hand around her stomach until it stopped to rest on the left side of her ribcage. She looked up and met Jace's gaze. He kept the concerned look on his face, silently asking her if she needed rescue.

Clary just clenched her jaw and shook her head back and forth, so minutely that it could have not even happened. Jace nodded once and walked forward toward the soccer table. He casually glanced at Clary's old table, expecting to find it empty, and he was surprised to see Simon sitting by himself.

They made eye contact and Jace nodded to the back doors, signaling for Simon to follow him out there.

"Why weren't you sitting with Clary?" Jace asked, getting straight to the point.

"They had already gotten seats when I got in the cafeteria. I moved to sit with them, Clary didn't even see me, and Sebastard made evil eyes at me and shook his head. So I went to sit at our table and wait for Izzy but she never showed up."

"Izzy's getting her wisdom teeth out today. She probably forgot to tell you because she forgot about it herself. Go get your lunch and come with me." Simon looked at Jace like he had just grown another head but Jace just signaled for him to hurry up. Simon nodded and followed Jace's orders.

Simon followed Jace over to the head of the soccer table.

"Hey guys, this is Simon, he's Izzy's guy. He's gonna sit with us today." Jace motioned to Simon to sit down and he took his place between Jace and a guy who's soccer sweatshirt read ' _Kyle'_ on the back. Simon soon found out that his name was Jordan Kyle and he was really interested in the same music that Simon was. Jace and Simon hadn't exchanged words since they sat down. As the bell rang for class and Jace moved to get up, Simon put his hand on Jace's shoulder.

"Hey dude, thanks for this." Jace nodded and looked over at Clary leaving the lunchroom, holding tightly to Sebastian's hand.

"Yeah well, let's just fix this fucked up situation with Red so I don't have to do this again." Jace replied harshly before realizing what he'd said. He softened his tone and replied once more.

"You're welcome. You shouldn't have to sit alone."

* * *

"Jace – I'm putting you on goalie today!" Coach yelled as the boys ran onto the field. Jace smirked and ran to the far goal post. He glanced up at the bleachers as he was running to see Clary watching the practice from the ninth row back.

"Whoa coach, I thought that was my position?" Sebastian demanded.

"Actually Verlac, it's Morgenstern's position. You're the sub. You need to brush up on your other plays for when Morgenstern comes back and you're back on the field. Wayland has them all down. He can afford to take a goalie day." Sebastian just grumbled and moved down the field.

* * *

"Babe, I've just had a really bad day okay? Can we drop it please?" Jace walked out of the locker room and heard a voice he recognized as Sebastian's.

"I'm sorry I just don't understa…"

"No you don't. Your brother isn't DEAD! Your girlfriend's brother isn't stealing stuff from you while he's still in a fucking COMA!" A loud crack punctuated Sebastian's sentence and Jace rushed around the corner. Clary was standing a ways away from Sebastian and had her hand on her cheek. She dropped it and looked away as soon as she saw Jace.

"I swear to God…" Jace dropped his voice as he began to walk toward Sebastian. Clary cut him off before he could finish.

"Are you ready to go Jace?"

"Yes." Jace said, still staring down Sebastian.

"Bye, I will see you tomorrow before the game." Clary said to Sebastian softly before walking up to him and kissing his cheek. He turned his face to meet her lips and gently ran his hand down her cheekbone. Jace just stared in shock – too stunned to move until Clary grabbed at his shirtsleeve to pull him toward his car.

"Why did you kiss him?" Jace stuttered as they reached his car.

"Because he's my boyfriend and that's generally what couples do to say goodbye?" Clary stated in an irritated voice. Jace stopped her before she could climb into the car.

"He hit you. I heard it happen Clary. Why did you kiss him?" Clary's eyes flashed at the realization that Jace had heard more of their conversation that she originally thought.

"I kissed him because he is my boyfriend. He's going through a really hard time right now. His brother died Jace. I can't even imagine how I would be acting if Jon didn't make it. I should have thought more about that. I made him mad – I kissed him because he's my boyfriend and I don't want him to be mad at me. It was an accident. I pushed him over the edge. We always kiss and make up though." Jace moved to grab her wrist and she flinched.

"You said you _always_ kiss and make up? So this bullshit has happened more than once?!" Jace yelled.

"We're both in unstable places right now, slip ups happen."

"No Clary. Slip ups do not happen like that," Jace reached for her hand and held it gently, "You guys aren't in unstable places Clary. YOU are in an unstable relationship and you need to get out. Now." Clary's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"How can you say that Jace? You've seen how Seb has been my rock through this whole situation." That was the last straw for Jace.

"I HAVE BEEN YOUR ROCK! Does _Sebbie_ take you to the hospital to visit Jon? Are you staying at that bastard's house while your brother is in a coma? Is he the one who calms you down when you have panic attacks? No. No he has done nothing for you except give you bruises. I hate seeing this Clary. Do you know how much I hate seeing this happen to you? Do you understand how much I HATE seeing you in pain?" Jace stepped closer to Clary as she tried to pull away. He pulled her closer by her hand that he still held and she fell into his chest. He tilted her head up slowly and brought his lips to hers. The kiss lasted less than a second, just when Jace thought she was going to give in, she pulled away and looked at Jace in shock.

"Jace. Jace…I…."

"Look, it's fine if you want to give your heart to some other boy. Just make it someone worthwhile. That dick that you call your boyfriend is not worth it." Jace said, handing the car keys to Clary.

"I'm going to run home. I will talk to you later." Jace said as he swung his soccer bag into the backseat, slammed the door, and took off in a sprint out of the school parking lot leaving Clary staring after him.

* * *

Jace knocked softly at the door.

"Are you awake?"

"Yes."

"Can I come in?"

"Of course." Jace swung the door open and saw Izzy curled up in four or five fleece blankets. Her cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk.

"Mom said the drugs had probably worn off so I brought you a smoothie and a spoon." Jace said sheepishly, holding up the purple cup and plastic spoon he had referenced. Izzy smiled as big as her swollen cheeks would let her, which was not much.

"Thanks. Why are you doing this? You're usually only nice to me when you've done something bad." Izzy said, getting out of bed and making her way over to the dresser with her smoothie to find a hair tie.

"Well I kind of have a few things to tell you."

"Okay. I'm not excited for this but go for it."

"I…Sebastian…umm…I'm not sure how to put this gently."

"Just spit it out Jace."

"Okay you can't do anything because I still have to tell you two things after this!" Izzy nodded her response.

"Sebastian is hitting Clary." Izzy's jaw clenched and her entire face turned bright red.

"You better say these next few things fast because I have some people to go punch." Isabelle said threateningly, picking up her smoothie and poking at it with the spoon.

"Well, Clary isn't exactly talking to me right now." Jace mumbled, looking at the floor.

"And what douchey thing did you do to receive this punishment?" Izzy asked, smiling at jace, about to take her first bite of the strawberry blend.

"I kissed her."

There was utter silence in the room, aside from the red liquid and purple cup crashing onto the tanned carpet. No one moved to pick it up.

* * *

 **PLEASE REVIEW.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry for the long update wait. College happens. All characters belong to CC. Kiss belongs to Teen Wolf. There is some language and possibly touchy subjects.**

* * *

"Jace pick up the pace!" the coach yelled from the sidelines. Jace let out a huff and kicked the ball into the net, right into Sebastian's face.

"TIMEOUT! Verlac – get a towel. Wayland – get a chill pill. I want everyone back here in half an hour for laps before the game starts."

Jace started to head back to the locker rooms, following a good fifteen feet behind Sebastian. The locker rooms were right under the bleachers. You had to go through a tunnel that split the bleachers in half to get into the locker room. Just as Jace was about to go in, he saw a flash of red in the seats and immediately changed course.

As he neared Clary, she still hadn't looked up, he could see she was completely lost in the world of her drawing. He caught a short glimpse of it before she noticed him and hugged her sketchbook to her chest. She had been drawing him and Jon playing soccer.

"You know the game doesn't start for another forty five minutes, right Red?" Jace nudged her shoulder as he sat down next to her. He had finally gotten her to smile at him again this morning at breakfast, after four days of cold shoulder.

"I like to sit here and watch practice. It reminds me of Jon…in a good way." Clary responded quietly.

"You know that it's not a bad thing to miss him. It's also not a bad thing to talk about how you feel. Personally, if we were talking about how I feel, I would say I'm feeling pretty lost right now." Clary looked up at Jace after his confession, many different emotions showing in her face.

"How could you be feeling lost? You're home." Clary said, pointing at the football field.

"I'm more lost there than I've ever felt anywhere else. I don't have my best friend down there on the field with me, my Red will barely talk to me," Clary smiled at the latter, "and I have to play the game I love most in the world with the person I hate most in the same world, and pretend I'm okay with us being on the same team."

"You really hate Seb that much?" Clary asked astonished. Jace just looked at Clary with wide eyes, trying to process how such a beautiful, caring, and generally amazing person could end up with someone like Sebastian, let alone stay with him.

"Of course I do. He doesn't take good care of the precious things in his life, like relationships and his beautiful girlfriend," Clary's hand began to move toward her ribcage as he continued talking, "He hits you Clary. Before you get all defensive, please hear me out! I love you so much and I would give anything to wake Jon up so you can have your big brother again but I can't do anything about it so you're going to just have to trust me when I say I am trying to protect you like Jon would want. You can't keep dating Sebastian. He's no good for you and…oh my god! I'm so sorry Clary. I'm so sorry!" Jace stuttered as he realized that she was holding her side so tightly her fingertips were white. He leaned in to brush some hair out of her face when she flinched.

"Clary," Jace's voice broke as he reached the second syllable of her name. Clary just looked down at her shoes and began tapping her foot anxiously.

"You should go get ready for the game Jace." Clary said, breaking the silence and glancing up at him with a fake smile.

"But Clary, I…"

"It's okay! I will see you at the party after, okay?"

"That party only happens if we win."

"Well then Blondie, you better win so I have a party to go to." Clary joked, smiling fully at him this time. Jace just smiled back before leaning down to hug her. Clary's response was not the strong hug he was used to – but he knew he would get that back soon enough.

* * *

"Yay I'm so proud of you!" Izzy yelled as she tackled her brother coming out of the locker rooms.

"I only scored one point Izzy, I was goalie for ¾ of the game and the other team shot a grand total of three goals. They sucked." Jace said, releasing his sister and looking around behind her.

"She already left." Izzy's words startled Jace.

"What?"

"Clary, she already left with Sebastian. They seemed absolutely fine. Are you sure about him hitting her? He was so nice to her and they were so lovey dovey and she hasn't had any bruises or anything except that one she got from art."

"They aren't using clay in art this quarter." Jace mumbled.

"What?" Izzy asked in an irritated tone.

"Nothing, let's just get to the party so Clary doesn't have to be alone with Sebastard for very long." Izzy just snickered and followed Jace to the car.

* * *

"You wannnanother drunk?" The brown haired offense player to Jace's left asked as he sloshed some of his drink onto his own navy green v-neck.

"No thanks man. I'm gonna stick with the water."

"Brother! Why you no drink? You'd have soooo much more fun!" Izzy whined as she waltzed into the room. Even in her drunken state, she never stumbled in her heels.

"I'm not drinking tonight Izzy, I'm driving you and Clary home and I want to make sure you are both okay."

"We are fine. Clary and Bastard are dancing in the living room. I am going to find myself a boy to dance with as well. You should lighten up. This is your party!" Izzy gradually got louder as she left the room.

"It's the team's party." Jace called after her.

Fifteen minutes later, Jace was still in the same spot when a somewhat sober Sebastian walked into the room.

"Hey how you doing man?" Jace asked, knowing that Clary would want them to be civil.

"I'm fine. I've only had one beer and I'm not the man slut of the team – so actually, I'm doing great."

"Sorry, are you talking to me?"

"Yeah Wayland, I'm talking to the dick who goes around behind his team mate's back and flirts and plays with his teammate's girlfriend."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb Wayland. We all know that the only reason you were friends with Morgenstern is because you wanted to fuck his sister. You're trying even harder now that I have her, but don't worry Wayland, I'll let you play around with my sloppy leftovers." Jace just stared at Sebastian, trying his hardest not to punch him square in the jaw – fights amongst teammates would mean immediate removal from the team for everyone involved and, although Jace would've been happy to see Sebastian kicked off the team, there was no way he was giving up soccer his senior year.

"You watch your mouth Verlac. I swear to god if you do anything, and I mean _anything,_ I will…"

"Seb?" Clary called as she entered the kitchen, effectively ending Jace's threat.

"There you are! I have been looking for you everywhere! It got really awkward on the dance floor without you." Jace could see from her posture and her alertness that she had not had much to drink, if anything at all.

"I'll be there in a second Clare. I am getting us beers."

"Thanks Seb but I really don't want…"

"I said I will see you in there Clarissa." Clary just nodded in response and turned to go back into the other room. Jace stared, stunned at the interaction he had just witnessed, and contemplating punching Sebastian, regardless of punishment.

Instead of being forced to decide, Sebastian walked out of the room with two beers in his hand and winked at Jace before leaving.

* * *

It had been three hours since the start of the party and Jace was more than ready to go home. His head was pounding from the loud music and he hadn't even had a drop to drink. As he was readying himself to go find Izzy and Clary, Izzy burst into the kitchen knocking someone's beer bottle out of their hand, not even bothering to acknowledge them, as she pushed her way toward Jace.

"What's up Iz? Had a bit too much?" Jace chuckled.

"Its Clary…" Izzy panted, out of breath. Jace shot out of his chair.

"Where?"

"Upstairs in the guest bedroom."

"Why didn't you stop them?" Jace yelled.

"I tried Jace! I'm too small to take on Sebastian! There's no time for this shit, get your ass moving and save my best friend." Jace took off before Izzy was halfway through with her final sentence, bolting up the stairs and knocking down everyone in his path before seeing Jordan at the top of the first landing, standing with a beer in his hand and talking to his girlfriend. Jace grabbed the beer, handed it to Maia, and grabbed the neck of Jordan's shirt before hauling him up the stairs.

"Whoa, Jace what the fuck are you doing? Bro chill out!" Jordan was mumbling as Jace continued to drag him down the hallway, hoping to find the guest room.

"Come on baby, you get to sleep with the star of the soccer team." Jace heard from the nearest open door. As he moved to touch the handle he heard a cry of his name and then a resounding crack. Jordan finally caught onto what was happening, luckily that had only been his second beer, and burst into the room in front of Jace. He didn't stop once to look at Clary and make sure she was okay – he knew Jace would take care of her – he just walked up to Sebastian and punched him once in the jaw and once in the gut before dragging him out of the room. Jace could hear Jordan throwing punches in the hallway and the voices of teammates trying to break up the fight. His attention wasn't on them though, it was on the sight in front of him.

Clary sat slouched under a window wearing only a nude colored bra on her torso, her skirt was bunched up under her and her shoes were on opposite sides of the room. Her tights and flannel shirt were lying in pieces next to her. She was leaning slightly to the side, propped up by the elbow that was connected to the hand grabbing her side. Tears were streaming down her face and Jace was almost frozen in shock. Almost.

He knelt down in front of Clary and tried to sit her up. Her eyes were clenched shut and she was curled into a ball. As soon as his hand made contact with her arm she shrunk away and began crying harder.

"No! no! _JACE!"_ she yelled.

"Hey Red, I'm right here. Open your eyes love! Stop crying. You're okay now. I'm here." Clary's eyes flew open as Jace began speaking but her sobbing and gasping for breath didn't slow down. Izzy finally walked into the room and Jace turned to yell at her, thinking she was Sebastian, before calming down and grabbing the car keys from his pocket.

"Is Maia sober?" Jace asked calmly. Izzy nodded furiously.

"She hasn't had a drop tonight."

"Good. Tell her to go start the car. You sit shotgun." Jace didn't stay standing long enough to see if Izzy caught the keys before he turned back to Clary.

"Hey love, I need you to calm down okay. Just count your breaths. You are doing great, just count your breaths." Jace put his hands on each side of her face, his palms against her ears and his thumbs rubbing slow circles across her temples.

"Jace, Jace I can't. I can't stop. I want to! It won't let me stop, Jace I can't breathe!" Clary rushed out in a panicked jumble. Jace just stared for a moment, hurt beyond words that someone could push his girl this far. She was just about to start up again when Jace leaned forward.

The moment their mouths connected felt like fireworks to Jace and he had to remind himself where he was. He put a hand behind Clary's head and gently pressed her lips closer to his before breaking the kiss.

Clary was still crying, and panting from the kiss, but she was able to take deep breaths again and begin to calm herself down. Jace reached behind him and pulled his shirt over his head, seeing that her flannel had been torn and left on the floor beside her, and pulled it over her arms and head before untucking her hair.

"Hey Red, I'm gonna take you home now. Okay?" Clary just nodded, still sobbing. She didn't help Jace out at all as he struggled to get her into his arms, but he didn't blame her one bit. He finally got her up and into his arms, bridal style, and Clary pushed her face into the crook of his neck. He walked straight to the front door without stopping to talk to anyone. They walked past the kitchen where Sebastian had a bag of frozen peas on his face. He was still standing and growling out insults at Jordan who was trying to walk away from him. One of their teammates was holding Sebastian back against the kitchen table. When Clary heard his voice, she flinched and pushed her face closer into Jace's chest.

As soon as they walked outside, Izzy saw them and went to open the backdoor of the small Honda Accord. Jace crawled in with Clary still curled up in his lap and crying lightly into his chest. Izzy jumped into the passenger seat and Maia drove toward the Lightwood's house. No one said a word the whole ride home.


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm back. I've had a serious case of writers block. Also I have two jobs and unfortunately, writing fanfiction does not pay the bills. I have decided this story can go two ways. I can wrap it up in a few chapters and make it basically just Clace fluff. Or it can get a little darker (I know it's already pretty dark, right?) and longer - but either way there will be PLENTY of Clace. Please let me know in your reviews. I'm leaning toward the darker aspect because it will provide you guys with a bigger story arc but if we're not into it, then there's no point in me writing it. PLEASE review so I can update quickly and get on a good roll with these chapters.**

 **I know y'all have been yearning for some Clace action – not to worry, you will receive it in this chapter**

 **Unfortunately I don't own the Mortal Instruments.**

* * *

Jace burst out of the car before it had fully stopped on the curb in front of his house. He didn't bother thanking Maya or stopping to make sure Izzy made it in the house. He bolted up the stairs and into the guest room, thanking anything and everything that, as a soccer player, he could do all of this effortlessly while still carrying Clary safely.

He threw back the covers and placed her on the bed, sinking to his knees next to the mattress and pushing her curly hair away from her face. Her hands were still twisted into the shirt he had given her, she was clutching at the neckline like it was strangling her or like it was a life preserver that was all that was keeping her afloat, but he couldn't tell which was true.

"Hey Clary, you gotta calm down. You're gonna hurt yourself." Jace was glad he had calmed her down a little bit back at the party but she still hadn't stopped crying the whole way home.

"I w-want t-t-o stop. It h-hurts Jace! I c-can't-t sto-" she gasped for air, cutting herself off. Jace ran a hand down the side of her face and gently unwrapped her hands from the shirt.

"N-n-no! D-don't lea-eave me. P-please Jace." Jace winced at her plea, and the fact that his name was never broken by her tear induced stutter.

"I'll be right back Red. I'm gonna go get some stuff to calm you down." Jace sprinted out of the room faster than he had brought Clary in, almost running into Izzy in the hallway.

"Is she okay? Did…did he… you know?" Izzy asked, not able to hide an ounce of the terror that she held in her body from seeing her friend this way. Her grip on his arm that she had used to steady herself tightened as she became more desperate for answers

"I don't know Iz, I can't get her to calm down yet. Please go to bed. I promise I'll make sure she's okay." Izzy held his gaze and slowly nodded before relaxing her fingers and releasing his arm. Jace sprinted down the stairs to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, two advil, and an ice pack. As he passed his room on the way back to the guest room, he grabbed a jersey for himself and one of his varsity sweatshirts and sweatpants for Clary. When he re-entered the guestroom, he noticed Clary had reattached her fists to the neck of the tshirt and her breathing was much more labored.

"Hey, hey, hey baby," Jace dumped the things he had collected on the end of the bed, pulled the jersey over his head and crawled behind Clary on the bed, hugging her firmly and tucking her head under his chin, "calm down. Clare, you're gonna give yourself a headache crying like that. Count your breaths. Big deep ones." Clary slowly started breathing normally between her sobs as she turned and tucked her face into Jace's chest. Jace relaxed his posture so that he curved into her more, but he kept her in a firm hug.

"Jace. Jace I can't…I don't wanna talk about…"

"Clare, we don't have to talk about anything at all. You just focus on calming down. Go to sleep love." They stayed wrapped up like that for a few minutes before either of them spoke and Clary had stopped crying.

"Thank you." Clary said in a small voice, looking down at her lap. Jace tilted her head up to look at him.

"There is nothing to thank me for." Jace said warmly. Clary put her hand to her forehead but before she could even say she had a headache, Jace handed her the glass of water from the nightstand and the two pain relievers.

"How did you know?"

"You're bound to be in some kind of pain after crying that hard, Red." Clary looked back down to her lap. Jace slowly reached up to place the ice pack on her jaw where a purple bruise was beginning to form.

"Hold that there for a while if you can, okay Red?" Clary nodded and laid back against the pillows. Her eyelids drooping. They sat in silence for a minute or so and Jace untangled himself from her before laying her softly on the pillows. Jace got up to leave and barely heard Clary whisper as she fell asleep,

"You haven't called me Red since Jon…"

* * *

Jace jolted awake and whipped his head around to look at his clock. It was 3 in the morning, they had only been home for two hours. Once he was awake enough, he registered the reason for his jolt from dreamland. There was screaming. And it was coming from the guest room.

Throwing the door open, he found Clary thrashing on the bed.

"Seb! Seb please stop! Help me! JACE!" Jace managed to pin her down and yell her name loud enough to wake her up. He knew he would never be thankful enough for the fact that his mom was visiting Alec at school this week and that Izzy would not wake up for anything when she was drunk.

"Good lord Red, you could've woken the dead." Jace joked, trying to keep the mood light as he knew what subject they were going to dive into next.

"Jace, they won't stop. It's just image after image after image of Seb pulling off my shirt, then hitting me, and…" Clary's words were cut off by a sob.

"Clare, don't get worked up again," Jace said as he picked her up and placed her on his lap, both of them leaning against the pillows, "You do not have to say anything about last night until you're ready okay? Now please, for me, will you try to sleep?"

"I can't Jace, every time I close my eyes he's there again." Her words becoming slower and more drawn out as her eyes drooped closed. Jace knew she had cried herself to the point of exhaustion earlier and there was no way a two hour nap had done her any good.

"It's okay, I'll be right here to fight off the demons while you sleep."

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 **Reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Most of the feedback I got from my question last chapter was that you want a longer story and are okay with the darker turn. I will be changing the rating to M as of this chapter. I'm sorry if that wasn't what you were looking for but it has unblocked my writers block and I'm gonna go with it. Italics are flashback.**

 **I've also updated a few pieces of the previous chapters.**

 **Thinking about doing some one-shots here and there so please let me know if there's anything you really wanna see outside the realm of this story, and I'm also currently planning another story that I won't even begin updating until it's way more fleshed out.**

 **But besides all that….here's your chapter**

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Clary woke with a start. She was wrapped in someone's arms and she was quickly overheating. Her breathing became labored as the claustrophobia set it.

"Hey Love – I didn't know you were awa…" Clary shrieked at the sudden noise and flung herself off the bed and into the far corner. Jace immediately sprung out of the bed and crouched low, approaching Clary as though she were a cowering dog.

"Clare. Hey Red, you're okay. You should crawl back in bed and I'll…"

"Izzy. Please go get Izzy." Clary said quietly as she turned her head away from Jace so that her forehead rested against the wall. Jace reached forward to pick her up and she flinched immediately, curling further into the wall.

"Clary I don't understand. Last night…"

"I need Izzy. Please go get her." Clary said firmly, interrupting Jace for the third time. Jace just stared for a moment, stunned at how quickly she had flipped, studied her face for a moment, then shot into a standing position and walked out the door.

He barged into Izzy's room without knocking and shook her until she groaned.

"What do you want Jace? I'm hungover as fuck and you _know_ you would hate me if I woke _you_ up this early."

"Clary needs you." Jace said calmly, looking at the floor. Izzy shot into a sitting position, sobering up within seconds.

"Did she talk to you? What happened?"

"No she didn't talk. She woke up screaming and calling for me in the middle of the night and I held her until she fell asleep. When I woke up this morning I just sat with her for a while until I noticed she had woken up. As soon as I started to speak she bolted out of the bed and into the corner. She looks awful Izzy. Just awful and there's nothing I can do to help her." Jace's voice cracked on his final sentence. Izzy moved into action immediately.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to check in with her and then I'll come get you."

Clary noticed the door opening slowly and she cringed at the sound of it closing, her only path of escape cut off. Then she noticed Izzy walking toward her and she sat up a little bit straighter.

"Hey Clare, how are you feeling?"

"Izzy, I'm scared. I'm so so so scared to talk about it. What if he finds out? What if he comes here looking for me? I can't…" Izzy scooted herself a little closer to Clary, looking at her and willing her to speak.

"Izzy you can't tell Jace any of this. He…He wouldn't…I just don't want to be alone."

"Clary, I promise that none of what you say will leave this room unless you want it to. But you should know that nothing would convince him to stop caring about you." Clary winced at Izzy's acknowledgement of Jace's feelings. She almost started hyperventilating before Izzy took her hands and crawled even closer so their knees were touching.

"I know this is really hard for you to say, and I get that you don't want to relive it but it's killing you Clary. You look exhausted and I just want to help you carry this massive weight that was dropped on you."

"You're my best friend Iz. I can't loose you."

"Listen to me Clary. Absolutely nothing that that bastard could have done will make me not want to stay right here by your side."

"I feel like such trash. I feel used. I-I lost my virginity last night Iz." Clary whispered the final sentence so quietly that Izzy wasn't sure she heard correctly, but Clary's abrupt sobbing confirmed it for her.

"Clarissa Fray you listen to me. You are not trash. You're an amazing person, a wonderful artist, and my best friend in the world. I love you so much and that is not going to change because of the shit that that bastard put you through. You didn't loose your virginity that douchebag took it from you…" Clary knew Izzy was still talking and she was desperately trying to keep focused. The individual words began to blur into random syllables and the edges of her vision began to blur into black…

* * *

 _"Thanks Seb but I don't really want…"_

 _"I said I will see you in there Clarissa." Clary put her head down and walked through the archway leading back into the living room. She paused in the darkness of the crowded room and looked back to see Sebastian right behind her, thrusting a beer into her hand._

 _"Hey baby, I promise it'll loosen you up. You're too tense." Sebastian whispered as he ran a hand down Clary's arm until his hand was intertwined with her free hand. It was a touching gesture that Clary hadn't seen a lot of lately._

 _Clary had a little less than a sip of beer and it made her feel lightheaded for a moment in addition to the terrible taste. She continued to pretend to drink so Sebastian wouldn't get mad. She had seen Izzy drunk enough to know how to play tipsy. About an hour later she "misplaced" her drink. By this point in time, Clary knew how to get around Seb's anger. By this point in the party, she was regretting even coming._

 _"Hey Seb, I really have to go to the bathroom, I'll be back in a sec."_

 _"Hurry back babe." Sebastian was almost at the point of slurring, but he was still able to form grammatically correct sentences so Clary assumed he was fine._

 _After taking a little while in the upstairs restroom to compose herself, Clary swung open the door to find herself caged in by Sebastian's arms._

 _"Seb, what are you doing? You startled me!" Clary laughed uncomfortably._

 _"I'm done waiting Clare, let's get this party going."_

 _"Seb, we've been partying for nearly three hours now. I think it's time to get going from this party. I think I'm gonna go find Jace and…" Sebastian cut her off by grabbing her wrist and pulling her back to him. He had obviously consumed more alcohol in the short time Clary was in the bathroom._

 _"It's always 'Jace this' and 'Jace that'. God even the teachers paired you two together. You know we've been dating for over four months now and the only lay I have gotten was from that Kaelie Whitewillow slut like six weeks ago. We should be in bed right now – why didn't you drink your beer?" Clary stood stunned at the information she had just received. She needed more time to process but she couldn't get past the question he had asked her._

 _"How did you know I didn't finish my beer?"_

 _"Please. I paid good money for that rohypnol. You should be roofied as fuck right now and I should be hilt deep in these…" Sebastian was reaching for Clary's hips. She aggressively pushed him back but he easily twisted her hands, grabbing her wrists and jerking her down the hallway into one of the empty bedrooms._

 _"Seb stop. Seb PLEASE!" Clary ripped her wrists out of his grasp and tried to get to the door but Sebastian shoved her to the floor, tearing the sleeve of her flannel in the process._

 _"Sebastian stop! You are drunk. You don't want to do this!" Sebastian punctuated each of his words by tearing her clothing piece by piece, pushing her skirt up and throwing her shoes._

 _"You. Deserve. This. You. Damn. Slut." Clary was moving as much as she possibly could through the stabbing pain in her side. She had begun hyperventilating and could barely see through her tears._

 _Sebastian didn't bother disrobing or taking her innocence into account. He simply unzipped his pants and took her. Clary screamed out in pain._

 _"Come on baby, you get to sleep with the star of the soccer team." Sebastian coaxed. Clary didn't know what to do. She couldn't even process an entire thought – certainly not enough of a thought as to the repercussions of her next action._

 _"JACE!" She yelled out, praying that somehow he was close enough to hear her and help. There was a resounding noise inside of her head before she felt the impact of the slap on her cheek. Everything went black even though she could still hear and feel everything that was going on._

 _Before Sebastian could scold her, she felt his weight being lifted off of her. She only had a second of relief before she could feel him pulling her up again._

 _"No! no! JACE!" Clary cried, slightly amazed by her ability to cry out due to the extreme lack of air she could get into her lungs._

 _"Hey Red, I'm right here. Open your eyes love! Stop crying. You're okay now. I'm here." Clary's eyes flew open in relief, thinking Jace would calm her down. She couldn't make it stop though. It was the most terrifying thing she had ever experienced. Clary could hear yelling and cars starting but she couldn't gain enough control over her body to stop crying or even take in an adequate breath. It honestly felt like the end._

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Clary was fully sobbing now and Izzy had silent tears streaming down her face. The door swung open with a bang, startling Clary and revealing a flushed Jace, his hair even more tousled than when he had woken up and his cheeks were slightly wet.

"Clary," His voice broke in the middle of her name, "He raped you."

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 **Don't hate me. Please review.**


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